The Curse of Caroline Johnson
by Deelightful76
Summary: Something a little different to my normal Lyatt love and fluff... Pre-Hollywoodland Lucy has been back with the gang in the bunker for a few weeks and being cooped up 24/7 is taking it's toll on everyone. What they need is a distraction. And then she discovers something interesting about the bunker's history...


"Hey Wyatt, look at this…"

He poured hot water into a mug and grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl before joining Lucy at the kitchen table, setting the tea down in front of her. "What's up?" he asked casually taking a bite.

She shifted her laptop so he could see the screen and pointed to the article she'd been reading - something about military experiments. There was a low quality black and white photo halfway down. It was of a young girl standing next to a couple of men in lab coats, in the middle of a large room. He squinted trying to make it out – it looked vaguely familiar. "Is that?"

"Our bunker? Yes it is. I was trying to find out a bit more about the history of this place and what went on here. To be honest I didn't expect to find anything given it's an old military site, but it was in one of the files Jiya managed to salvage from the old Mason Industries systems from when he had the extra security clearance."

"Wait. You don't think Rittenhouse had anything to do with this place do you?" Wyatt gulped, his voice cracking slightly.

She looked away from him back to the screen, shaking her head. "No, it doesn't look like it. It's actually a bit weirder than that. Supposedly it was abandoned in the mid 1950's because it was thought to be haunted."

"It was thought to be what now!?" Rufus was wide eyed with alarm. He'd been on the couch reading but hearing their conversation had jumped up and was now leaning next to Lucy where he'd barged Wyatt out of the way to get a look at her screen. The force of his arrival had caused Wyatt to choke on his apple and he was now at the counter stifling a cough as he got a glass of water. "Jeez that kid is creepy looking." Rufus was oblivious to the splutterings of his team-mate, too focussed as he was on scanning the article.

Lucy rolled her eyes and sighed as he tried to take control of her computer. Probably faster to explain what she'd found so she could have it back "Apparently back in the 1950s this bunker was used for experimental research into ESP and telepathy - presumably they were trying to see if they could create super soldiers with the power to control people with their minds or develop new interrogation techniques. I don't know it doesn't go into that detail. There was a small team of scientists and military here headed up by a Swiss parapsychologist called Dr Gustav Amsler working alongside an army physician, Dr Peter Venkman…"

"Ha Peter Venkman. That's the name of Bill Murray's character in Ghostbusters - how funny." Rufus observed interrupting her, his grin quickly fading back to serious as Lucy shot him an unimpressed look, her eyebrow cocked impatiently in full school ma'am mode. Wyatt let out another cough from the other side of the room. "Sorry, sorry" Rufus apologised, "go on…"

She nodded and continued, "Anyway, they carried out tests on US army recruits and a number of suspected Communist spies between 1952 and 1954, all without success and the programme was due to be closed down. But then in October '54, one of Amsler's lab assistants came across a story in a local newspaper about a young girl who could supposedly read people's thoughts. Caroline Johnson – she was 11 at the time."

"Her parents ran a small but struggling grocery store in a town called Willets, not too far from here, and she'd help out on the weekends and holidays. Locals claimed that when they visited the store she had this ability to know what they wanted before they asked. Sometimes they'd walk in and she have already laid out the goods on the counter and started to ring the sale up. Amsler was keen to study her in the hopes she could provide the answer he needed. As the family business wasn't doing so well and the family had 3 other children, he offered her parents the money to keep their business afloat. They took the cash, signed her over to become Amsler's ward, and she moved into the bunker with him."

Wyatt had recovered and re-joined the others "Parents of the year, huh. And I thought my old man was bad."

"I'm surprised my mother didn't think of it – send me off to Rittenhouse bootcamp for the school holidays" Lucy scoffed. Instinctively Wyatt reached over and squeezed her hand. She felt herself flush. She'd been in the bunker for a few weeks now and even though nothing had happened since their near kiss on the day they got back from France 1918, things had definitely been a lot more touchy feely between them recently. She met his eyes and smiled.

"Anyway, Caroline was in the bunker for about six months. In that time they did all sorts of tests on her. Psyche evaluations, telepathy experiments, electro-shock treatments…It's even been suggested trepanning may have occurred – and remember this is to a girl of eleven." Wyatt and Rufus looked at her blankly. "It was a form of surgical procedure in medieval Europe and by peoples like the Incas where they'd drill holes in the skull to treat people – usually to get rid of evil spirits" They both winced.

Lucy continued, "Caroline seemed to know things, things she'd have no way of knowing about the scientists, their personal lives, stuff that was happening in the outside world… but they couldn't work out how."

"So was she really psychic?" Rufus was hanging on every word of the unfolding tale.

"Oh come on Rufus. You don't believe in that bullshit do you?" Wyatt snorted at the suggestion.

"Well that's the thing. Caroline always insisted she didn't have any psychic powers."

"See Rufus… evil spirits and psychics; it's a load of bullsh..."

Lucy cut him off "No wait, I mean Caroline insisted that **_she_** didn't have any psychic ability and it wasn't **_her_** doing it." She paused and eyed the two men steadily, "she said it was Cristabel."

"Who's Cristabel?" Jiya's voice cut across the room startling Rufus. He spun around to answer her "Some creepy kid who could read people's minds."

"No Rufus. Cristabel wasn't a kid. In fact she wasn't alive at all." His face crumpled into a look of dread at what she might say next. "Cristabel was Caroline's doll."

Wyatt scoffed again, as Jiya reached for the laptop and began reading aloud. "Caroline claimed that her doll Cristabel would whisper to her in a voice only she could hear. She'd tell her what people were thinking and share their deepest, darkest thoughts. She told Dr Amsler and his team that before coming to the bunker Cristabel only told her nice things about people, like what they needed from the store, but that since the tests had started Cristabel had gotten angry and the secrets were much meaner. Caroline was becoming scared of her." She pointed back at the screen "Here look – she's holding the doll in the photo. Never mind the kid, that's one creepy looking doll right there." They all peered to where she was pointing.

Rufus was starting to look decidedly uncomfortable, rubbing at the back of his head, "So um, what happened?"

Lucy picked back up the story, "Caroline kept insisting that Cristabel was angry they were keeping them there and asking to go home to her parents. She begged them saying that if they didn't stop Cristabel had threatened to harm them all, including her. Venkman and Amsler wouldn't hear of it of course, and just continued with their experiments. And then things started to happen. Little things at first like items going missing from the labs, small objects moving in the night, strange sounds… It doesn't say exactly what happened or how bad it got but by the end the team had become terrified and quit. Even Venkman refused to stay on and fled in late May of 1955. Finally on June 18th when there had been no reports from Amsler for over 2 weeks a group of soldiers was dispatched to the bunker to investigate. They found the bodies of Caroline and Amsler in one of the rooms. They'd been poisoned. Caroline was holding a doll, its face and clothes slightly charred where it had caught fire." Lucy looked back at the screen, then up and down the hall, counting on her fingers as she mentally processed what she was reading. She looked back at the two men "They were found in your room, apparently."

Rufus' face was ashen, a look of absolute horror in his eyes.

"I'm guessing they tried to burn the doll then, to kill the evil spirit?" It was Jiya, by contrast to him she looked non-plussed, if anything eager to know more and seemingly happy to overlook the appalling fact Lucy had just so casually mentioned about his bedroom. "I mean if they found the doll all charred up something must have happened to it. So did they kill themselves? Or did someone else murder them? Or maybe it was Cristabel. Dum dum dum…" she dramatically intoned like a kettledrum. She laughed lightly, Wyatt and Lucy joining in.

"You know," mused Wyatt, nodding towards the lifeboat, "there's a way we could find out what happened."

"Are you frigging serious?" Rufus looked at the group like he might be sick. "How the hell can you all find this funny? Some creepy kid and a psycho scientist were killed by a possessed doll in the room I sleep in and you want to go back in time to see what happened? No way. No frigging way!" his voice was an octave higher than normal.

"No way is right. The lifeboat isn't the Mystery Machine - you're not taking it out for some Scooby Doo outing. What if the Mothership jumps?" Agent Christopher had arrived and looked unamused.

Thank god, thought Rufus. Agent Christopher wasn't about to let his Mystery Incorporated gang wannabe team mates drag him back to 1955 to chase down a murderous doll. He was definitely Shaggy, or possibly Scooby, but in any case if she did let them, Fred, Daphne and Velma could bloody well go by themselves.

"Besides, we know what happened. Dr Amsler became obsessed with Caroline and when her parents demanded her return he killed them both rather than lose her. The burns on the doll were just from an accident with a candle during a powercut according to the records. You can see for yourself – the doll is still somewhere in the storeroom I believe."

Rufus paled again. Christopher's could say all she wanted but he wasn't convinced. There was something seriously spooky about that kid and the doll, and the fact that it was still somewhere here in the bunker was now making him sweat. Oh yeah, and not to mention they died in his bedroom. He was definitely not happy about that.

Just as he was about to spiral into a mass of creepy murderous doll thoughts and conjured images, Mason came to his rescue. "Ah Rufus, Jiya there you are. I've been going over the time dilation sequencing between the Lifeboat and the Mothership transmissions and I think I've found something. Can you come and take a look?

XXXXXXX

As soon as they were out of earshot the three others started to chuckle. Agent Christopher spoke first, a smile still playing on her lips "Well I think it's safe to say that went to plan. It certainly looked like he bought it. We all set for phase 2?"

"Yep we're all set. And he definitely bought it. Lucy was amazing" he gave her a dimply smile, "she had him hooked from the first minute."

"Yeah no thanks to you!" she swatted at him playfully. "Don't think I didn't see you skulk off to the counter to have your little giggling fit while I was trying to keep it together. I so nearly lost it when you choked on the apple!" her eyes crinkled as laughter began to bubble up.

"I'm sorry I couldn't help it. I saw his eyes almost pop out of his head when I mentioned Rittenhouse being in the bunker and when he barged me out the way it was all I could do not to spit the apple across the floor. Honestly I don't know how you kept a straight face" He was giggling again now, tears pooling in his eyes and setting Lucy off.

Denise gave a soft chuckle and shook her head as she watched the two of them. "Well I'll leave you to it. Let me know if you need any more help from me"

As she walked away she could hear the sound of now helpless laughter coming from the kitchen that every now and then would pause for breath, before one would get the other going again. "Peter Venkman!" "Scooby Doo outing!" "She wasn't alive at all!" followed by another round of giggles. She smiled to herself thinking what a wonderful couple they'd make.

XXXXXXX

It had all started a few days after Lucy arrived at the bunker. Emma and the mothership hadn't jumped and with little to occupy the team, they'd all started to get a bit antsy. Mason, Jiya and Rufus would pass much of their time carrying out maintenance and upgrades on the Lifeboat, Lucy tried to keep up her knowledge of history a tricky task given the stream of butterfly effect changes to the timeline that weren't always immediately apparent, and Wyatt worked out, did some target practice and looked after their weaponry. He also provided the others with basic combat training and tended to do most of the cooking. For entertainment there was a TV, but without a cable service they were reliant on a small selection of DVDs that Agent Christopher had supplied them, and a few board games.

As well as they all got on, 5 of them cooped up in a giant tin can 24/7 and their days on a repeat cycle was hard going. So at some point Rufus had decided to keep himself entertained by playing practical jokes on the others.

He started off small – loosening the cap on the salt shaker, freezing the TV remote in a block of ice, swapping out the coffee with gravy granules. But before long the bunker was regularly filled with the sound of shrieks (a bucket of cold water over a doorway that soaked Lucy), groans (Mason's collection of LPs all placed in the wrong covers), gasps (ice cubes in Jiya's slippers) and yells (a particularly dye laden red sock in with Wyatt's whites – half his boxers were now baby pink) among many many others. Each time there'd be a shout of 'Rufus!' and he'd appear round the corner snickering and grinning from ear to ear.

One night after he'd gone to bed, the rest of the gang decided it was time to retaliate. Caroline Johnson and her mind reading, child whispering doll Cristabel was born.

Wyatt had hit upon the idea after realising that Rufus always made an excuse to do something else any time he suggested they watch one of the horror movies in their film collection, and tended to get fidgety when talk ever turned anything vaguely related to ghosts, evil spirits or witchcraft. For a scientist he was surprisingly worried about the undead. Lucy had put together the story of Dr Amsler and Caroline (Wyatt adding in the Ghostbuster touch) and Jiya had built the website including photo-shopping the picture in the bunker, and rigged up a few technical effects for phase 2. Mason and Christopher had agreed to play their parts, including her sterling performance where she informed the group the doll was still somewhere in the bunker.

XXXXXXX

Lucy and Wyatt were still chuckling about the events of that evening as they got ready for bed.

After Mason had finished showing the others his time dilation findings and they'd returned to the kitchen, Wyatt had proposed they carry out a search of the bunker for Cristabel. Despite Rufus' adamant protests the others had all agreed and they'd headed off in different directions leaving him behind in the kitchen, under the pretext of making them dinner. After an hour Mason's voice echoed across the steel walls causing his stomach to drop, "Found it".

Moments later they were all gathered back around the table looking at his 'find'. It was the stuff of Rufus' nightmares. About a foot long, with thinned and dirty looking strands of nylon hair bunched into giant pockets dotted over the plastic head, a half closed eye, the lid blinking back and forth of its own accord, the other melted into the cheek, a black stripe charred across it. The body was like a yellow stained muslin balloon of crumbling stuffing, it had arms that cut off at the wrists then interlocked with rotating clenched hands with pen coloured fingernails, and there was a hole in the foot where the big toe should be. He couldn't even look at it without shivering.

As they inspected it Lucy had nudged Wyatt in the ribs forcing him to take a deep and considered interest in the contents of the fridge so he could catch his breath, while Jiya having made the mistake of catching his tearing up eyes was desperately staring at a spot on the floor praying she wouldn't have to speak. Lucy swallowed hard and held it together, thankful that Mason too seemed to be under control and able to carry on the conversation.

Eventually they'd all composed themselves long enough to put Cristabel on the counter for safe keeping, and managed to get through dinner and a game of scrabble before retiring for the night.

Rufus had resolutely refused to sleep in his room and begged Lucy to let him share with Jiya that night. Wyatt's teasing suggestion that he might want to share with Cristabel if he was looking for company, being met with an appalled glare. Lucy agreed and was set to sleep on the couch when Wyatt asked if she wanted to bunk with him. There were 2 beds, they were friends and it wasn't like they'd never shared a room before on their jumps he reasoned. They'd shared a bed once too - he thought wistfully back to that night in Arkansas when she'd lain achingly close to him in only a skimpy slip but decided it was probably better not to mention that one. "Besides," he'd whispered into her ear out of Rufus' earshot and unknowingly sending a cascade of shivers through her, "we have something to do tonight."

Having navigated a couple of slightly awkward dance like missteps as they manoeuvred round the small bedroom, they were now lying in their respective beds, mirror images facing each other, arms crooked at the elbow propping their heads up, their faces, eyes and smiles trained on each other in comfortable, if a little shy silence.

He checked his watch. 11 o'clock. "I guess we should get some sleep – we're going to be up at 2" he smirked and she giggled once more as he turned out the light. "Goodnight sweetheart". "Sleep tight babydoll"

XXXXXXX

He woke with a start. He'd heard a sound like a child's laugh. The room was dark. He listened intently, his eyes roaming the room searching out something, anything amongst the shadows. He heard another tinkle of laughter followed by a soft teasing whisper "secrets, secrets, I know all the secrets" – it sounded like it was coming from the corner of the room.

"Jiya" he hissed. No response. "Jiya" he repeated more urgently shaking her shoulder. She murmured in her sleep "Geroff. Sleepin" and rolled over onto her side, pulling the covers up over herself. "Jiya" he tried once more but she wasn't moving.

His heart was in his throat. He heard a creak and his neck snapped towards the door which had opened a few inches, dim flickering light from the hallway creeping across the floor. His breath stopped as he heard a further twisted chuckle and the patter of footsteps head away from the room. He was fully alert now, his heart racing. There was no way he could sleep now, but also no way he was about to go out there.

Under the covers Jiya buried her face into the pillow biting it to hold back the snort that was threatening to escape, as she quietly slid the remote control under the mattress.

XXXXXXX

Lucy blinked her eyes open, slowly becoming accustomed to the soft light. Wyatt had lit a small nightlight a thoughtful gesture to avoid her being blinded by the bright bulb that hung from the ceiling. He was gently rocking her arm, his breath warm against her ear as he coaxed her awake. "Hey". "Hey" She could hear the excitement in his voice and as her eyes adjusted could see it in his bright blue eyes too.

She stretched and shook off her sleep. "Did it work?"

A boyish, dimply grin broke across his face as he plopped himself on the bed beside her and held out his phone. It was open on a text from Rufus

'_Wyatt, get up. I just heard some really weird shit like a kid laughing and some super creepy whispering. I think that doll's up to something._'

"Looks like you're up soldier" she chuckled, "Go get that demon doll!"

Wyatt sprang up from the bed, grabbed his blank loaded gun and with a mischievous wink headed for the door. "You set?" She nodded. He hadn't had this much fun since bootcamp.

There was a clatter in the kitchen, like metal trays hitting the floor. Seconds later Rufus yelped at the sound of rapid banging on his door. "Rufus? You in there man?" Wyatt. Thank god! "Yeah I'm here"

Wyatt slowly backed into the room, his gun raised and a worried look on his face. "Jiya OK?"

"Wyatt? What? What's going on? Why you in our room?" she rose sleepily from the bed careful not to make eye contact with him.

"Did you hear it? Have you guys seen it?"

"Seen what? Hear what?" she asked sounding flustered and confused.

"The doll. Cristabel. It was on the counter when we went to bed last night. It's not there now, the kitchen's a mess and there's really weird sounds coming from the bathroom. Like a girl laughing and whispering something about secrets. Is that the same shit you heard Rufus?"

"You heard it too!? It's… it's moved? It's in the bathroom!? Oh shit!" Rufus shuffled up on the bed pulling the covers close, his voice rising to a squeak. "I told you. I told you there was something demented about that thing"

Suddenly there was a loud crash as the bathroom door slammed shut and the chair usually used to prop it hit flew past the doorway. They heard Lucy scream and the sound of running as Mason sprinted in the opposite direction of the chair "Bloody helllllll…" echoing behind him. Lucy screamed again.

"Lucy!" Wyatt called out to her desperately. "Lucy? You ok?"

"Wyatt!" she pleaded.

He turned to Jiya and Rufus and barked an order "You two check the kitchen and get Mason. I gotta find Lucy before that doll does." He quickly stepped out into the hall.

Adrenaline coursed through him and despite it being the worse idea in the world, Rufus grabbed Jiya's hand and jumped from the bed. "Come on, we've got to help the others." She nodded and took his lead. They both took a deep breath and looked out into and down the hallway. It was empty. They froze at the sound of shots being fired from somewhere in the bunker as Lucy yelled "Over there!" In the commotion and with all the metal walls it was hard to tell where the noise came from.

Shit, shit, shit. Rufus gripped Jiya's hand tighter and slowly inched along the corridor, their backs firmly pressed to the wall. Were they walking to the danger or away from it? His hands were slick with sweat. And then as they turned the corner his eyes widened in shock and his head dropped.

"You goddamn bastards!"

Mason, Wyatt, Lucy and Denise, who was cradling Cristabel, were all gathered in the kitchen, their faces etched with glee and a banner hanging above their heads which read 'Gotcha!'

He shook his head in disbelief, "I nearly had a frigging heart attack" which only served to make the others break out laughing. Jiya stepped forward as she joined in the giggling "You too?"

"I'm sorry honey but it had to be done. It was payback time."

"God damn the frigging lot of you" he sighed swatting his hand to his head as his heart slowly quieted. Unable to help himself though he finally smiled and let out a chuckle of his own. "I gotta say you got me good." The others all continued to laugh – Wyatt and Lucy his time travelling team-mates most of all. Wyatt was clutching at his stomach muscles as he leant against Lucy who was gasping for breath and crossing her legs for fear she might pee.

He smiled broadly at his friends. "You're a bunch of dicks but there's no-one I'd rather be trapped in a bunker with" he grinned, before casting a wary look at Cristabel "but that doll has got to go."


End file.
